GameSir making it easier to earn mobile Battle Royale victories

It’s no secret that Battle Royale has become a popular genre. Fortnite’s total player count has recently topped 200 million players. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds has constantly remained in the steam charts since its launch.
This popular genre has also made its way onto mobile devices. Fortnite mobile beta for Android has 15 million downloads. Rules Of Survival also hit 15 million downloads in 2017. PUBG Mobile’s player count recently hit 10 million.
Having the ability to secure a Battle Royale victory from a device that fits into your pocket is wonderful. We’ve all spent plenty of downtime and extended bathroom visits securing a victory.
There is one issue that mobile Battle Royale players have had to live with; first person shooters on touch screen devices are extremely hard to play.
A tongue in cheek viral ‘rate my setup’ image circulated earlier in the year, which showed what felt like an perfect solution for mobile. The ability to use mouse and keyboard. Frustrated with my own ability to play using a touch screen device, I began my investigation.

GameSir X1 Battledock

The device I saw was the Gamesir X1 Battledock, a bluetooth device which enables a wired mouse and keyboard to map to a paired application on your phone. The application runs as a key mapping overlay.
Their product description boasts of a 37% increase in player kill count during testing. With my curiosity peaked, I contacted Gamesir to arrange delivery of the X1 Battledock and GK100 Gaming Keyboard.
The accompanying GK100 Keyboard was surprisingly well built, featuring blue mechanical switches and smart button layout to ensure popular gaming keys were accessible.

Some keystrokes require the activation of two keys simultaneously, such as ‘M’ via Ctrl + Caps. The majority of first person shooter keyboard requirements are all easily covered by the left hand.

GameSir World Application

The dock itself was a fairly straight forward product to set up. Users are required to download the GameSir World application. This application cannot be found on the Google Player store. Users will have to download it directly from the GameSir website. This may be an alarm bell for some users. You are required circumvent your phones default security settings, to allow installation of applications from unknown sources.
The second alarm bell is the absurd list of permissions this application requires. As exampled below.

 
Why does a mouse and keyboard remapping software require the ability to set an alarm, transmit infrared and access to my heart rate data? I have absolutely no idea. Throwing caution to the wind, I installed the application on a spare phone.
The remapping process is relatively stress free. The app asks which game you are playing and automatically remaps its key overlay for that game. You also have the ability to download user generated key mapping. I found this particularly helpful with certain games, as the more popular user generated key maps felt more nuanced.

To their credit, their statement about increased kill rate was correct. I was able to implement tactics that I simply could not perform with touch devices. Strafing, whilst maintaining accuracy of firing is second nature with mouse and keyboard; not so with a touch screen and limited ability to perform multiple actions at once.

X1 Battledock and Rules Of Surival

A short example of my general use of the Gamesir X1 dock with Rules Of Survival mobile can be found below.

Will you be banned for using this?

The native support of stock game applications is welcomed. But is this acceptable for mobile multiplayer games? Is this an unfair advantage, and do games allow these third party overlays?
For that we have to highlight GameSir’s own disclaimers.

In short; it’s complicated. iOS Fortnite and PUGB Mobile do not support this device. iOS PUBG Mobile users have reported account banning as a result of their use of the X1 Battledock.

It appears that, for PUBG Mobile Android at least, the GameSir X1 dock is a ‘try at your own risk’ device, or at the very least, to be used with a secondary account.

Compatible games

Rules Of Survival is a game that allow the use of this device. I am happy to state that I did not receive a ban for my testing of this product. I reached out to Rules Of Survival via Twitter DM to clarify their stance on the GameSir X1 Battledock disclaimer, but did not receive a reply.

My campaign to improve my mobile Battle Royale experience was not deterred by threats of device bans. I purchased an additional GameSir device that can be used with both iOS and Android and did not risk banning from any game.

Compatible accessories

The F2 Firestick Grip and L1R1 Triggers provide a physical trigger pad and grip holster for a more comfortable mobile experience.

I have been using these with Rules Of Survival for the last month. The grip allows for USB chord to access the phones charge port and ensure extended gaming sessions are much more comfortable.

The trigger systems have also allowed me to maintain basic first person shooter techniques such as aiming whilst strafing. They provide a noticeable improvement in mobile gaming experience, with a smaller price tag and a nonexistent risk of account banning.

Try the X1 Battledock at your own risk

GameSir provide a variety of devices that no doubt ensure a better mobile gaming experience. My experience with the X1 Dock confirms a noticable increase in performance and kill counts.  The level of application permissions is alarming however, as is the thread of account bans with their remapping tools.
Use with caution if you truly need to be the best mobile Battle Royale player with mouse and keyboard, or perhaps stick to the grip and triggers.